Snow shovel

ABSTRACT

A snow shovel of the push or plow type having a U-shaped handle by which the V-shaped blade is pushed along a sidewalk or driveway to clear a path without lifting of the snow, said shovel being characterized in that the V-shaped blade comprises a pair of blade sections having their upwardly and rearwardly inclined leading ends detachably secured together, and a brace extending horizontally across the trailing ends of the blade sections and detachably secured thereto, and in that the U-shaped handle comprises upwardly and rearwardly inclined legs having their lower end portions detachably secured to the trailing ends of the blade sections and having their upper end portions detachably secured to the legs of a U-shaped handle member on the cross bar of which pushing force is applied to move the blade along the sidewalk or driveway which is to be cleared of snow. The snow shovel herein, by reason of the aforesaid detachable connections of the parts thereof, may be economically shipped in disassembled condition in a compact package. The snow shovel herein is further characterized in that the extremities of the lower legs of the handle are bent to lie in the same horizontal plane as the bottom V-shaped edge of the blade thus to form skids to facilitate movement of the blade along the snow covered surface and additionally to form fulcrums for upward tilting of the blade when deep or heavy snow is encountered or when an irregularity is encountered in the sidewalk or driveway.

Siebert States Patent 1 I SNOW SHOVIEL [76] Inventor: Howard G. Siebert,3004 Fairmount Blvd, Cleveland Heights, Ohio 441 18 221 Filed: Mar. 19,1973 21 1 Appl. No; 342,758

[58] Field of Search 37/44, 46, 47, 53; 294/54, 294/55, 57, 58

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,014,783 9/1935 Schubert37/53 2,782,533 2/1957 Eslinger 37/53 2,884,720 5/1959 Meyer et a1...37/44X 2,119,443 5/1938 Rogers 37/53 3,136,574 6/1964 Pasqua1e.... 37/53X 2,598,952 6/1952 Weingart 37/53 X 1,678,113 7/1928 Gustafson 37/472,508,612 5/1950 Kimbler 37/53 2,933,836 4/1969 McKinley... .1 37/533,380,772 4/1968 Lissakers 37/53 X FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS71,519 8/1942 Czechoslovakia 37/53 Primary Examiner-Robert E. PulfreyAssistant Exaininer-Eugene H. Eickholt.

Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Donnelly, Maky, Renner & Otto [57] ABSTRACT Asnow shovel of the push or plow type having a U- shaped handle by whichthe V-shaped blade is pushed along a sidewalk or driveway to clear apath without lifting of the snow, said shovel being characterized inthat the V-shaped blade comprises a pair of blade sections having theirupwardly and rearwardly inclined leading ends detachably securedtogether, and a brace extending horizontally across the trailing ends ofthe blade sections and detachably secured thereto, and in that theU-shaped handle comprises upwardly and rearwardly inclined legs havingtheir lower end por' tions detachably secured to the trailing ends ofthe blade sections and having their upper end portions de' tachablysecured to the legs of a U-shaped handle member on the cross bar ofwhich pushingforce is applied to move the blade along the sidewalk ordriveway which is to be cleared of snow. The snow shovel herein, byreason of the aforesaid detachable connections of the parts thereof, maybe economically shipped in disassembled condition in a compact package.

The snow shovel herein is further characterized in that the extremitiesof the lower legs of the handle are bent to lie in the same horizontalplane as the bottom V-shaped edge of the blade thus to form skids tofacilitate movement of the blade along the snow covered surface andadditionally to form fulcrums for upward tilting of the blade when deepor heavy snow is encountered or when an irregularity is encountered inthe sidewalk or driveway.

5 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is a principalobject of this invention to provide a push or plow type snow shovelwhich is of strong and light-weight construction and with which a pathon a snow covered surface may easily be cleared merely by pushing on thecross bar of the U-shaped handle connected to the trailing ends of theV-shaped blade without entailing any lifting of the snow.

It is another object of this invention to provide a snow shovel of thecharacter indicated in which the components thereof are detachablysecured together so that the shovel may be shipped in disassembledcondition in a small package. 7

It is another object of this invention to provide a snow shovel of thecharacter indicated in which the V- shaped blade is composed of a pairof blade sections which have bottom reinforced edges and which haveleading ends detachably secured together and fashioned so as toreinforce the leading edge of the blade, the blade beingfurtherstrengthened by a cross brace detachably secured to the trailing ends ofthe blade sections.-

Other objects and advantages of this invention will appear from theensuing description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a snowshovel embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation view as viewed along the line 3-3, FIG. 2;and

FIG. 4 is an elevation view on enlarged scale as viewed along the line4-4, FIG. 2.

the legs 6 having lower ends which are bent as best shown in FIG. 4 toform skids to facilitate movement of the shovel 1, said skids 15additionally facilitating EMBODIMENT The snow shovel 1 herein comprisesa V-shaped blade assembly '2 arid a U-shaped handle assembly 3 having across bar portion 4 by which the blade assembly 2 is adapted to bepushed through the snow to clear a path on'a' sidewalk or driveway, theblade assembly 2 being braced by a cross brace 5 extending across thetrailing 'ends of the blade assembly 2 and across the lower ends of thelegs 6 of the handle assembly 3.

The blade assembly 2 comprises two sheet metal blade sections 7 ofgenerally trapezoidal shape-which have riveted to the lower edgesthereof relatively heavy gauge steel strips 8 and which haveinterfitting flanges 9 at their leading ends which are secured togetherby screw and nut means 10;]0 to form a strong blade vertex composed oftwo thicknesses of the metal of the blade sections 7. The upper edges ofthe blade sections 7 are curled at 11 to induce rolling over of the snowas the shovel 1 is pushed toclear a path. The cross brace 5 ispreferably made of tubing having flattened and bent end portions whichare secured to the trailing ends of the blade sections 7 as by means ofthe screw and nut means 12(s'ee FIG. 4).

The handle assembly 3 comprises lower leg sections 6 preferably made oftubing and having flattened lower end portions which are secured to thetrailing ends of the blade sections 7 by the same screw and nut means 12as retains the cross brace 5 in place and by additional screw and nutmeans 14 as best shown in FIG. 4,

the tilting of the shovel l as shown in phantom lines in FIG. 3 whendeep or heavy snow is encountered thereby raising the vertex of theblade assembly 2 from the sidewalk or driveway. The upper end portionsof the legs 6 are flattened and are detachably secured by a pair ofscrew and nut means 16 to the flattened end portions of the legs 17ofthe U-shaped handle member 4.

From the foregoing it can be seen that the snow shovel 1 herein is ofstrong, lightweight construction and that, by. reason of thedetachability of the parts as described, the snow shovel 1 may beshipped in disassembled condition in a compact package which is oflength and width determined by the U-shaped handle member 4 and ofthickness determined by the thickness of the blade sections 7 whenpacked between the legs 17 of the U-shaped handle member 4.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention herein disclosed the bladesections 7 are made of galvanized sheet steel, and the cross brace 5,legs 6 and handle member 4 are made from steel tubing. Obviously, theseparts of the snow shovel 1 may be made of other materials such asaluminum. In lieu of the screw-means 16 for detachably connecting thelegs 6 and 17 together, it is to be understood that said legs 6 and 17may be telescoped together and detachably retained by single screw means16 or by suitable spring catch means.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property orprivilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A push-type snow plow comprising: a V-shaped blade assembly having aleading edge and including a pair of generally upright blade sectionsdiverging from said leading edge, said blade sections having top andbottom edges, trailing ends and rear surfaces, a U- shapedhandleassembly having spaced-apart legs and a cross bar,'said legs havinglower end portions secured to said blade sections and extending alongsaid rear surfaces adjacent said trailing ends over a major portion ofthe distance between said top and bottom edges for stiffening said bladesections, said lower end portions of said legs having terminal endportions bent rearwardly adjacent said bottom edges to provide runners,and a cross brace secured between said lower end portions of said legs.

2. The plow of claim 1 wherein said lower end portions of said legs arepositioned between said rear surfacesof said blade-sections and the endsof said cross brace, common fastener assemblies extending through andsecuring together said blade sections, lower end portions of said legsand opposite end portions of said cross brace, and additional fastenerassemblies spaced from said common fastener assemblies for securing saidblade sections to said lower end portions of said legs.

3. The plow of claim 2 wherein said blade sections have reinforcingstrips secured thereto along said bottom edges thereof and saidadditional fastener assemlower end portions thereof and said cross bar.

1. A push-type snow plow comprising: a V-shaped blade assembly having aleading edge and including a pair of generally upright blade sectionsdiverging from said leading edge, said blade sections having top andbottom edges, trailing ends and rear surfaces, a U-shaped handleassembly having spaced-apart legs and a cross bar, said legs havinglower end portions secured to said blade sections and extending alongsaid rear surfaces adjacent said trailing ends over a major portion ofthe distance between said top and bottom edges for stiffening said bladesections, said lower end portions of said legs having terminal endportions bent rearwardly adjacent said bottom edges to provide runners,and a cross brace secured between said lower end portions of said legs.2. The plow of claim 1 wherein said lower end portions of said legs arepositioned between said rear surfaces of said blade sections and theends of said cross brace, common fastener assemblies extending throughand securing together said blade sections, lower end portions of saidlegS and opposite end portions of said cross brace, and additionalfastener assemblies spaced from said common fastener assemblies forsecuring said blade sections to said lower end portions of said legs. 3.The plow of claim 2 wherein said blade sections have reinforcing stripssecured thereto along said bottom edges thereof and said additionalfastener assemblies extend through said reinforcing strips.
 4. The plowof claim 3 wherein said handle and cross brace are made of tubing, saidlower end portions of said legs and the opposite end portion of saidcross brace being flattened.
 5. The plow of claim 4 wherein each of saidhandle legs is detachably secured together intermediate said lower endportions thereof and said cross bar.